Happy New Year!

I’ve been on vacation for the past two weeks and while I got a lot of stuff done around the house, I feel like I’ve just been spending most of the time sleeping. Winter makes me lazy anyway. It’s cold. There’s less sun. It just makes me feel like hibernating. Sometimes I think that’s why we put the start of the year in the middle of winter. The excitement of a new start gives everyone a little boost of optimism and energy to make it to spring. That’s how I’m choosing to look at it anyway.

So what’s new for this year? Well, first off, I’m doing my annual post-Christmas detox. Now I know I should never let go like I do during the holidays to begin with, but it’s done, and so my only option is to detox and hope I do better next year.

This year Michelle and I decided to start juicing. I know, it sounds very “new age” and all that, but seriously, the older I get the more I’m learning that all that hippy crap like yoga and juicing and whole foods we made fun of in our 20’s is actually good for you. Who would have thought you can’t really be healthy drinking beer and eating Domino’s every night?

So we’re starting the year off with a juice fast, and after that’s over we plan to make juicing a regular part of our diet. So here’s the greatest thing about juicing: It’s the fastest way to get a LOT of veggies in your diet without having to eat a lot of veggies. Let’s face it, veggies suck. They don’t taste all that great and they are hard to prepare. I mean, how many dishes do you know that use kale or bok choy? The other problem is that to really get enough veggies in your diet, you have to eat platefuls of them. Well, with juicing you can reduce literally a mountain of veggies into a 16oz drink.

Now you’re probably thinking: It’s gotta taste like dirt, right? Actually, no! I was super surprised at how non terrible it tastes. Now I’m not gonna lie, it’s nowhere near as pleasant as an ice cold Sam Adams, but it’s not bad at all. The secret is to throw something sweet in on the tail end, like an apple or even a lemon or an orange. That takes the “green” off the flavor. The other cool thing about juicing is that you don’t get all that nasty texture like you would if you blended your veggies or just ate them strait. It’s just liquid, and if you serve it over ice, it’s even better. And what’s cool is you can mix and match all kinds of fruits and veggies for various flavors.

So, I’ll be posting more information as Michelle and I become more experienced with juicing and if you want to see an amazing documentary about the power of juicing your vegetables, fire up Netflix and watch Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. You will be amazed.